India didn’t show intent after Hardik Pandya’s exit, says Vinod Kambli

India lost their first match of the World Cup 2019 at Edgbaston on Sunday when hosts England defeated them by 31 runs to bring their campaign back on track. Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat and on a flat pitch, his team put up a total of 337 for 7 in 50 overs. The Indian spinners went for quite a few runs while Mohammed Shami took his first-ever five-wicket haul in ODIs. The Indian bowlers still brought the scoring under check as England looked like scoring over 400 runs at one stage.

While chasing, India lost KL Rahul early and despite a 138-run partnership between Rohit Sharma (102) and captain Virat Kohli (66), the No.1 team ended up at 306 for 5 in 50 overs. The Indian batsmen came under criticism for their approach, particularly in the last five overs when they managed only 39 runs. MS Dhoni (42 not out) and Kedar Jadhav (12 not out) were the two unbeaten batters and they were accused of showing no intent towards the end.

There was no urgency

Former India batsman Vinod Kambli, who played in two World Cups, was also among those who criticized India’s approach towards the target. In a tweet, he said India should have tried to get closer to the England total. He praised Hardik Pandya who blazed to 45 in just 33 balls with the help of four fours before perishing in the 45th over.

According to Kambli, India showed “no urgency and aggressiveness” once Hardik departed. Hardik and Rishabh Pant, who got his first game of the World Cup replacing an injured Vijay Shankar, added 28 runs in three overs before the latter (32) fell while trying to clear the ropes.

#TeamIndia should have shown intent and tried to get close. @hardikpandya7 tried and played for the win but after his wicket there was no urgency and aggressiveness shown!#CWC19 #IndvsEng #ENGvIND

— VINOD KAMBLI (@vinodkambli349) June 30, 2019

Earlier, England were off to a flying start with comeback man Jason Roy (66) and Jonny Bairstow (111) putting up 160 runs for the first wicket in just 22.1 overs. Later in the innings, Ben Stokes belted 79 off 54 balls to take England well past 330. The English batsmen hit 13 sixes in their innings while India hit only one and it came from Dhoni’s bat. India next play Bangladesh at the same venue on Tuesday.